A New Hampshire doctor, in West Africa right now helping to cure Ebola, will be headed home soon.
New Hampshire Deputy State Epidemiolgist Dr. Elizabeth Talbot left for Sierra Leone in November.
It’s where she's supervising training for humanitarian workers. They’re teaching them how to treat Ebola patients.
Talbot says that training can be grim at times. She spoke about teaching the workers how to bathe Ebola victims and handle the deceased during a phone call on Friday.
The married mother of three says one of the sad realities is that Ebola is taking away from other medical treatment like malaria, HIV, tuberculosis, and safe birthing. Many people are dying as a result.
"I'm so sorry to see what a setback this is for every aspect of healthcare. All of the primary health care settings are closed essentially, so that means for every patient who dies of Ebola, there's likely a hundred who die of other diseases that they might have otherwise treated if the health care system had been able to sustain the operation," Talbot said.
Talbot will be placed in isolation for 21 days upon her return, despite not being in direct contact with her patients.
